UP, JK police orders probe into ‘religious conversion’ of barber in Kupwara

Srinagar/Bijnor (UP), May 19 : A case each was filed in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday in the alleged religious conversion of an 18-year-old barber in Kupwara district of the Union territory, officials said.

According to a complaint by the father of the teenager, Krishna Kumar, his son Vishal had gone to work at a salon in Ganderbal (Jammu and Kashmir) around three years ago, along with Wasim, a resident of Kajiwala village.

Kumar, a resident of Khanjahanpur Bahadur village in Bijnor, had claimed that Vishal is 17 years of age.

According to the complaint, on May 15, a cleric at the Markazi Jamia mosque in Ganderbal allegedly made Vishal recite the ‘kalma’, following which his religion was changed.

Kumar also stated that during a phone conversation, Vishal told him that he had “come too far” and would not return to Hinduism.

A Bijnor Police officer said a video related to the incident has also gone viral on social media.

The complainant alleged that after the alleged conversion, his son was given the new name Mohammad Hamza, the officer added.

Bijnor Police have registered an FIR against Wasim and some unidentified persons and initiated an investigation into the matter, Singh said.

Meanwhile, Kupwara Police in Jammu and Kashmir had earlier registered a case to probe the matter.

Further investigation is underway, the officials said.